History of Amerasia Basin: New 2D Russian Seismic Data and Discussion

Anatoly Nikishin

New 2D reflection and refraction seismic data were obtained during last years for Lomonosov and Mendeleev ridges and Podvodnikov Basin. New seismic data were collected for East Siberian Sea and Chukchi Sea shelves in a frame of “ROSNEDRA” project recently. This data change our understanding of geological structure and history of Amerasia Basin and its shelves. The North Chukchi Basin transforms to the north to a rifted basin between Chukchi Plateau and Mendeleev Ridge. We call this rifted basin Toll Basin. New data show that North Chukchi and Toll basins have Aptian-Albian time of rifting. Sedimentary cover of Mendeleev Ridge underwent two main tectonic events. First event took place in the Cretaceous as rifting and volcanism. Second event was in Cenozoic. Cenozoic tectonics transformed Mendeleev Ridge to a system of tectonic ranges and basins. Podvodnikov Basin has a rifted crust. A huge delta systems presented by large scales clinoform complexes were discovered in northern parts of Chukchi Sea and East Siberian Sea.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90177©3P Arctic, Polar Petroleum Potential Conference & Exhibition, Stavanger, Norway, October 15-18, 2013